DIY 40 and 10 stand

ryanoh

ryanoh

Large Fish
#1
Mar 22, 2010
858
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#1
So I decided that I'm going to slowly build this stand I've been planning since the summer. I'll be moving again this June...ish, but just downstairs in the house I already live in, and I thought since I'd have to move the tank anyways I might as well drop it on a brand new stand. *SUPERSMIL


(Sorry my apartment is such a wreck, I sort of just dropped all my Lowes stuff in the middle of the floor, and there was some other homework-y type stuff going on on the other side of the couch.)

I got the wood to build the top and bottom rim, and as you can see, my cats are as stoked as I am. I should be building either Friday or Sunday. I'm using the woodshop at my college, and for some reason its not open at all on Saturday.
Pictures (and probably questions as well) to come.
 

ryanoh

ryanoh

Large Fish
#5
Mar 22, 2010
858
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#5
It doesn't seem that bad, but something about putting on the internet makes it seem worse. I mean, my dirty socks are right there in the middle of everything.

Anywho...

(I cleaned up a little bit for this photo, lol.)

I went to the school and built my top and bottom tonight! Yeeeeeah!
I'm pretty excited. Not that this is serious carpentering, but I'm impressed with how well I did. I might try and get the verticals in this weekend, or I might not. I have a ton of stuff going on with school that needs to get done this weekend.
 

ryanoh

ryanoh

Large Fish
#6
Mar 22, 2010
858
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#6


Another shot, just for good measure, and as you can see, I'm measuring.

The plan is to have the ten gallon below the fourty on one side, and the filter and other things below it on the right. I'd post sketches, but I'm sort of just making this up as I go along...
 

G

GraphicGr8s

Small Fish
#8
Feb 10, 2011
11
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0
Land O Lakes, FL, USA
#8
Dylandrewsdad said:
I wish I saw this earlier...you should have used pressure treated wood. Are you planning on treating this with anything like a sealer?
Click to expand...
For a stand you don't need PT. And that stuff leaches the chemicals. I never cut PT without a mask and gloves.

He'll be long dead and buried before that rots out if he takes care of it. If he wanted he could actually put water based poly on it. I built a stand for a 90 in my last house 20 years ago. Saw the woman who bought the house and she says it's holding up just fine. I'd be more worried about the butt joints he used instead of rabbeting the frames.
 

skjl47

skjl47

Large Fish
#9
Nov 13, 2010
712
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Northeastern Tennessee.
#9
Hello; This is something picked up watching home improvement shows and I cannot confirm it, but think that I heard a statement indicating that the pressure treated wood now does not contain arsenic and other toxic chemicals like it used to. I do not know for sure, so check it out if it is important to you.
 

ryanoh

ryanoh

Large Fish
#10
Mar 22, 2010
858
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#10
I thought about using treated wood, but I decided to just use deck sealant or something similar to treat the wood one its all put together.

I ran out of brackets so I couldn't put the shelf that the 10 gallon is going to sit on together yet, but here's what I did today:

I plan on covering the outside with plywood, but there's also metal braces on pretty much every corner just incase. I know that's waaay overbuilt, but I'd really like for this thing to be super sturdy.
And as usual, a cat snuck into my picture.
 

IfIhadaboat85

IfIhadaboat85

Medium Fish
#12
Feb 10, 2011
81
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0
Annapolis, MD
#12
MMMAAAAAAANNNN!!

Ugh. This is making me want to build my own stand now that could accomodate a little 10-20 gallon display or work tank with shelves and storage space and which could (hopefully, fingers crossed) accomodate a 55 gallon or slightly larger soon!

Right now I've got my 29 gallon sitting on some industrial looking black metal stand full of welds that's supposedly 'only for a 10 gallon'... gimme a break PetCo.. you could sit a Sherman tank on that stand and it would be ok.

very very cool Ryanoh. Also, I noticed that some had expressed concern for the type of joints he used in his construction..? is this with concern for the stand's ability to support a 40 gallon tank's weight?
 

ryanoh

ryanoh

Large Fish
#14
Mar 22, 2010
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#14
Yeah, the brackets are way overkill, but you do need some sort of shear protection on a stand. That means you either need brackets, or to skin it with plywood on atleast 3 sides. I chose to do both just because I'm paranoid, but its for sure not necessary.

I cut out the plywood today and will be staining it tomorrow depending on how my arm feels in the morning. I stepped on a nail at the wood shop today and had to go get a tetnis shot, but I'm so pumped about getting to work on this stand I'll probably go to work on it anyways. And, or course, there will be pictures.
 

ryanoh

ryanoh

Large Fish
#15
Mar 22, 2010
858
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#15


Here it is with the plywood sides on, and I'm starting to glue the trim around the top and bottom to cover where I had to nail it. I plan on doing a couple of coats of dark stain tonight, then if its not too late one more clear one over the top of everything just to make sure its good and water resistant.

Thanks for all the support guys. :)
The next big part figuring out how to put all my equipment underneath it.
 

ryanoh

ryanoh

Large Fish
#17
Mar 22, 2010
858
0
0
#17

As always, cats in my way.

Here it is, pretty much done. I took that picture with my phone and then had to photoshop it a lot so you could see anything because the stain came out so dark, and its midnight here. I just dragged the thing up the stairs after letting it dry out all day. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, and I think it will look really good once I get the doors on it.
 

ryanoh

ryanoh

Large Fish
#19
Mar 22, 2010
858
0
0
#19
Haha. They've absolutely loved being able to get in there ever since I built the frame. It almost makes me not want to put a drawer in it but just be a cat bed under there instead.
 

G

GraphicGr8s

Small Fish
#20
Feb 10, 2011
11
0
0
Land O Lakes, FL, USA
#20
skjl47 said:
Hello; This is something picked up watching home improvement shows and I cannot confirm it, but think that I heard a statement indicating that the pressure treated wood now does not contain arsenic and other toxic chemicals like it used to. I do not know for sure, so check it out if it is important to you.
Click to expand...
They haven't run CCA (Copper, Chromated Arsenic) in a few years. The latest version is Alkaline copper quaternary. Hasn't been around long enough to really know the hazards. Even with all the evidence suggesting the leaching properties of CCA the lumber industry was still denying it.
 

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